Connecting device.



F. H. CHAPMAN & O. E. KENNEY.

GONNBGTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6, 1913.

Patented Feb. 10, 1914.

INVENTORS Af- @www d. @ww/cwan,

VVITNESSES:

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0.. wAsHlNaTON. D. c4

METTE@ STATES PATENT OFFICE;

FRANK H. CHAPMAN AND OWEN E, KENNEY, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THE YOST ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

CONNECTING DEVICE.

Application filed January 6, 1913.

Specification of Letters Patent.

T all whom t may concern,

Be it known that we, FRANK H. (l1-1ar- MAN and OWEN E. Rumeur, citizens of the United States, and residents of Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Connecting Device; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates particularly to connecting devices for the plug and socket members of electric circuits; and it has for its object to improve on the connection described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,041,066 granted to David D. Gordon, October 15, 1912, whereby to enhance the practicability and commercial value thereof.

The invention is fully described in the following specification, and while, in its broader aspect, it is capable of embodiment in numerous forms, a preferred embodiment thereof is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a plug and socket embodying the invention, with portions of the same in central vertical section, and with the plug plunger in contact with the socket contact but extended relative to the plug. F ig. 2 is a similar view thereof with the plug and socket in engaged posi` tion. Fig. 3 is a cross-section on the line frzfc in F ig. 2, and F ig. 4 is an outer side elevation of the plug.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a socket of customary or any suitable construction having the central contact part 2 and the spirally grooved or threaded lining 3 forming the other contact member of the socket.

The plug, which is designated 4, is of suitable size and shape to lit into the socket 1 and has its outer end, or that which is intended to be inserted into the socket, provided with a longitudinally extending socket 5 in which a plunger 6 is mounted for reciprocatery movements, with its movements limited by a pin or screw 7 projecting therefrom and working in a slot 8 in the plugsocket wall. The plug and plunger are preferably composed of a suitable insulating material. The plunger G is yieldingly held in extended relation relative to the plug by the interposition of one or more coiled compression springs 9 between its inner end and the base of the plug socket.

The plunger G is provided, in the present instance, at opposite sides thereof with conductor strips or bars 10 and 11, which are secured to the plunger by screws 12, or in any other suitable manner, and connect at their rear or inner end portions to lead-in wires 13 and 14, respectively, preferably by the screws 12. These bars extend lengthwise of the plunger, and the former, in the present instance, has its outer end extended transversely of the plunger across its eenter in position to make contact with the socket contact 2, when the plug is inserted into the socket, while the bar 11 is intended to have electrical connection with the conductor lining 8 of the socket through the medium of a. series of transversely movable contact members 15 carried by the plug adjacent to its outer or free end.

The members 15, which, in the present instance, are three in number and arranged in slightly spaced relation transversely of the plug, are mounted in radial openings in the socket wall of the plug and are of greater radial length than the thickness of such wall. These contact members are retained to the plug for limited radial movements relative thereto, preferably by a common plate 16, which is secured to the outer side of the plug and has portions depressed or eountersunk into said plug openings, to substantially the centers thereof, as at 17, and provided with restricted central openings through which the correspondingly restricted stem or link portions 15 of the contact members work. The heads or enlargements at the ends o-f the stems 15 of such members coact with the depressed portions.

of said plate to limit the longitudinal movements of the members, and when either' head of a member is seated in the wall opening its outer surface is substantially Hush with the respective inner or outer surface of the wall, as shown. The plate 1G is preferably slotted from the stem receiving openings thereof to the adjacent edge of the plate, as at 18, to facilitate a placing of the members into engagement with the plate, or vice versa, when the plate is removed from the plug.

The conductor bar ll oit' the plunger registers with the contact members l5 and has its outer end portion outwardly offset relative to its inner end portion transversely of the plunger, as at l1', and inwardly tapered at its inner end to adapt it to coact with the members and force them outward relative to the plug when the plunger is moved into the plug socket from its normal position relative thereto, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. lt is obvious that an outward projection of the members 15 when the plug is inserted into a socket wall will cause the outer ends of such members to interengage with the wall groove of the socket l in the manner 03": a thread to retain the plug and socket in engagement. The portion ll of the conductor strip l1 which coacts with the members l5 is preferably broadened relative to the inner end portion of the bar, as shown in Fig. 3.

In the operation of an electrical connection of this character, the plug, with its plunger in normally extended position rela# tive thereto, is inserted into the socket until the plunger contactr l0 engages the socket contact 2, whereupon the plug is pressed farther into the socket to eii'ect an inward movement of the plunger relative thereto and a consequent out-ward forcing of the contact members l5 due to the coaction of the olset portion 11 of the conductor bar l1 therewith. The members l5 being thus pressed outwardly into thread engagement with the socket, a slight turning movement of the plug in clockwise direction with rela` tion to the socket will serve to securely tighten the plug in place.

le wish it understood that our invention is not limited to anyfspecific construction or arrangements of the parts except in so ar as such limitations are specified in the claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-

l. A plug having a socketed body part with o-penings in its wall, a plunger working therein, a conductor member carried by the plunger and having oset portions, elongated contact elements radially movable in said openings and having restricted stem portions intermediate their ends, and means countersunk in said openings for receiving the stem port-ions of said elements and coacting Vwith the end portions thereof to limit the radial movements of the elements, said conductor member being movable with the plunger to control the radial movements of said elements.

2. A plug having a socketed body part provided with openings in its socket wall, a plunger working longitudinally in said body part and iniuenced to stand in projected position relative thereto, a plate having apertured portions countersunk in said openings, elongated contact members having restricted stem portions working through the apertures in the countersunk portions of said means and connecting en! larged end portions, and a conductor bar having an offset part which coacts with said members to move them outward when the plunger is moved from normal position.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK H. CHAPMAN. OWEN E. KENNEY.

Witnesses:

Gro. F. MILLER, Jr.,

IDA RICKET.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

